Aladdin and Cassim
by Otokage
Summary: What if Aladdin had a friend, a fellow street rat like himself to help him out during the first movie? What would it be like? Join Aladdin and Cassim in this tale of adventure and friendship. Note: This is not the Cassim from AATKOT, he is my OC.
1. Chapter 1

Hello out there faithful readers. Your local Shadow Poet is here with his first story!!!! (Band starts to play and confetti falls from the sky) Yes that's right, I am going from critic to author! (Does Might Gai signature thumbs up) The whole concept of this story came to me one day while I was watching Aladdin one evening (Yes, I still watch Aladdin even though I'm in high school. Do you have a problem with that?) and I thought "Hey, what if Aladdin had a friend, a fellow street rat like himself to help him out during the first movie? What would it be like?" and thus Aladdin and Cassim was born! Now please work with me folks, this is my very first time writing on fanfiction and it will be awhile till I get the hang of uploading this stuff. Also, by the way, **I do not own Aladdin, the Aladdin franchise, the Disney corporation, nor any of its counterparts.** I do, however, own Cassim and Babuk, my two original characters in this story. And that means they are mine, you cannot take them without my permission. I'm not afraid to sue. Sigh Why did you have to die Walt Disney? On with the story…

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Arabian Nights**

Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place  
Where the caravan camels roam  
Where it's flat and immense  
And the heat is intense  
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home  
When the wind's from the east  
And the sun's from the west  
And the sand in the glass is right  
Come on down  
Stop on by  
Hop a carpet and fly  
To another Arabian night

Arabian nights  
Like Arabian days  
More often than not  
Are hotter than hot  
In a lot of good ways

Arabian nights  
'Neath Arabian moons  
A fool off his guard  
Could fall and fall hard  
Out there on the dunes…

A merchant leaps off his camel and presses his hands together, bowing as you walk by him. The merchant is on the shorter side, with dark skin, a short curly beard, and a white turban almost as big as himself wrapped round his head.

"Ahh, Salam and good evening to you sir. Please, please, come closer… " he says. You walk up to him and stoop down until your noses almost touch.

"Too close, move back a little." You take a few steps back, and the merchant seems to relax. He lights a match, briefly illuminating the dark city street. He holds his hand over the match and begins to speak.

"Welcome to Agrabah, city of mystery and enchantment… And the finest curios on this side of the river Jordan!" he says, running over to his camel and undoing a clasp. Like magic, a stall packed with odds and ends, 'curios', pop out. The merchant runs behinds it and hangs a sign that reads 'open'.

"Look at this good sir," he says, holding a strange device, "a Ming vase, makes coffee and fries!" He pours some beans into the top and holds a potato under the bottom, swiftly dicing it into cooked fries.

"And, it will not break," he says hitting it several times against the stall. The top falls off and a spring pops out of it, causing him to frown. "It broke…" he says, throwing the broken device behind him. He reaches from beneath a shelf and pulls out a small white box.

"Ooohh, look at this. I have never seen one of these in one piece. It is the rare Pharaoh's Tupperware." He lifts the lid a little and blows a raspberry. "Still good"

You get tired of the man's antics and begin to walk away, but he runs from the stall blocking your path.

"Wait don't go! I see you are only interested in the exceptionally rare antiquities" he says, smiling mysteriously, and pulls out a brass lamp from his sleeve. You look closer at the lamp, it is of Byzantine style and is very old, dull, and has a small dent in the side.

"Do not be fooled by its humble appearance. Like many things, it is not on the outside, but the inside that counts" he says, lifting the little lid and peering inside. You begin to turn away but he blocks you path again.

"This is no ordinary lamp! It once changed the lives of two boys, both much like yourself. Perhaps you would like to hear the tale, hmm?"

You nod your head, your beginning to get interested in this lamp. Besides, this merchant will probably keep you here all night if you don't listen.

"Very well, it begins on a dark night, and a dark man, with a dark purpose…" he begins, tipping the lamp. A strange silver powder is poured into his hands and he throws it up into the night sky, where it glistens like a thousand stars.

* * *

A tall man, dressed in black and red clothes, sat atop a horse, waiting in the desert night. A blue and red parrot sat upon his shoulder, and his small black peer down at the man climbing the dune below them. The man, though short and fat, climbed the dune quite swiftly, his ragged clothes fluttering in the desert wind. He stopped a few feet in front of the rider and bowed. 

"Do you have it, Gazeem?" said the rider, gripping the horse's reins. Gazeem stands and nods, pulling something from his pocket.

"Ay Jaffar, and I had to slit a few throats to get it" he said, holding the object up for Jaffar to see. It is half of a golden scarab, neatly broken down the middle.

"Excellent" said Jaffar, holding his hand out for the piece. Gazeem pulls his hand away.

"Uh, uh, uh. The treasure?" asked Gazeem. The parrot soared off of Jaffar's shoulder and grabbed the scarab piece out of Gazeem's fingers. As it flew back, it dropped the golden fragment into Jaffar's outstretched hand.

"Patience Gazeem, the treasure will be yours" said Jaffar, as he rummaging through a saddle pouch.

"Squawk, the treasure will be yours" squawked the parrot on Jaffar's shoulder, mimicking his master.

Jaffar held up another golden piece, the other half of the scarab. Carefully he placed the two together. As soon as the two halves touched, it newly formed scarab glowed and came to life in Jaffar's hands. Gazeem watched in amazement as the scarab took off like an arrow, leaving a trail of sparks after it.

"Quickly, follow the trail!" shouted Jaffar, spurring his horse and galloping after the scarab. Gazeem climbed onto the one he had brought and followed in suit.

Mile after mile the scarab led them throught the desert till it stopped at a single point. The scarab split in half, its pieces still glowing and fell into the sand. The sand began to rise up like a wave, until it formed a head of a giant tiger, its maw open revealing an orange light from deep underground. The two golden scarab pieces glittered as its eyes.

Gazeem and Jaffar slid off their horses, and Gazeem looked at Jaffar quizzically, as if asking him what to do.

"First bring me the lamp, then the rest of the treasure is yours" said Jaffar. Gazeem grinned greedily, and began creeping towards the mouth of the cave.

"Squawk, the rest of the treasure is yours" chimed the parrot. It then turned and whispered in Jaffar's ear, "Jeez Jaffar, where'd you pick up this bozo?" Jaffar held up his hand to silence him.

"Patience Iago, let us watch." Gazeem was just about to enter when the mouth of the cave moved, surprising him and causing him to topple. The head of the tiger spoke in a great gravelly voice, sand falling from the roof of its mouth.

"Who dares enter the Cave of Wonders?" boomed the giant head, its golden eyes peering down at the pitiful figure of Gazeem.

"It is I, Gazeem, a humble thief" he said as he gulped nervously and bowed.

"Only those who are the diamonds in the rough may enter the cave…" spoke the tiger, opening its mouth up wider as if inviting Gazeem into the cave. Gazeem carefully approached the mouth, and closed his eyes as he gingerly placed one foot inside. He smiled as nothing happened, and then began to proceed deeper into it. But then, the tiger head gave a mighty roar and Gazeem tried to run, but he was to slow. The mouth closed in a wave of sand and the head began to melt into the desert.

"The diamonds in the rough" spoke the head one last time before the scarab pieces slid off , their glow now lost.

Iago burst from a mound of sand and began brushing himself off complaining, "Ok, this was a complete waste of our time. We are never going to get that stupid lamp!" He flew over to the scarab pieces and grabbed them in his claws, and flew back to Jaffar, who was brushing himself off as well. Iago dropped dropped the pieces into Jaffar's hand and perched on his shoulder.

"Yes Iago, it seems that Gazeem was unfit to enter the cave" said Jaffar, clutching the scarab pieces in his hand.

"Oh that is such a surprise!" said Iago sarcastically, pacing on Jaffar's shoulder. "I have never been more surprised in all my life, why I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die from this surprise of this! I'm…. mmphh" said Iago, as Jaffar clamped his beak shut to silence him.

"Patience Iago, I know of a way to find these 'Diamonds in the rough'. The lamp will be ours. " he said climbing his horse and riding away into the desert.

* * *

Whew, ok. Glad that part is done. Next chapter is when Al and Cassim are running from the guards. Also, I plan on adding all the songs in here, but Im tweaking them so that Cassim fits in. Also, I might have the next chapter ready tomorrow or the day after. Keep your eyes peeled. 

(more)


	2. Chapter 2

Ten thousand years… or has it been ten minutes, can really give you a kink in the neck! Ok, I already put the disclaimer in on this thing so no point for it here. Every one say hello to Cassim!!!! Enjoy!!!

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**Chapter 2**

**Aladdin and Cassim**

Two boys raced across a rooftop, pursued by the guards chasing them.

"I'll have your hands for trophies, street rats!" shouted one of the guards as he climbed the ladder to the roof. The boys stopped at the edge of the roof, and one of them held up the loaf of bread he just stole.

"All of this just for a loaf of bread?" asked Aladdin quizzically to his partner.

"Speak for yourself" I said, holding up a small bag of coins I had just stolen. Oh, sorry, how rude of me. The name is Cassim, best thief in Agrabah. In my opinion anyway. I not really sure how old I am, I've been on the streets of Agrabah as far back as I can remember, I guess I'm the same age as Al here. I don't think I've ever had a family. Well, unless you count Aladdin, a 'street rat' like myself. We're practically like brothers, the two of us. Stealing what we've had to in order to survive. Like now for instance. And this gets us into lots of trouble.

"Cassim, why do you do this to me?" asked Aladdin, looking over his shoulder. The guards had reached the top now and were advancing on us.

"Hey, I have to eat too you know?" I said sheepishly, tying the bag onto my belt.

"That's why we grabbed this" he said, tossing the loaf around.

I sighed and ran my hand through my dark brown hair. He just didn't seem to understand. Food isn't enough for people like us to survive. We need money, badly.

"Al, I think we should jump now…" I said, throwing myself off the roof top. I must admit I'm quite the daredevil. It was a good sixty feet from the roof to the street, but fortunately a stall canopy broke my fall. I rolled off of it and onto the ground, landing on my feet perfectly. I looked up and saw Aladdin playing it safe, grabbing onto a clothes line. I watched and he slid down it, and I winced as he slammed right into a wall, bringing several garments down with him.

"Hey Al! Are you still alive?" I called jokingly to him.

"Still alive Cassim" said Aladdin appearing from the clothes pile and catching the loaf of bread.

I'm pretty athletic when it comes to running. I've had lots of practice. But I'm pretty lean for understandable reasons. And my clothes are pretty shabby too, for the same reasons. Just a scarlet red tunic and some white baggy pants.

"You're not getting away that easy, you street rats!" yelled one of the guards from the rooftop we were on moments ago.

"You think that was easy?" called Aladdin back to him.

I looked towards the end of the street and saw another group of guards. They were looking for us but hadn't seen us yet.

"You two down there, and you, come with me" said one of them. They began moving their way towards us.

I then noticed a group of women standing near by giggling at our antics. I pulled Aladdin out of the clothes pile, threw a yellow cloth around him and made our way towards the women.

"Hello ladies" I said pleasantly, winking one of my ocean blue eyes at them, causing them to giggle more.

"Isn't it a little early for you two to be getting into trouble Cassim?" asked one of the women.

"Heh, your only in trouble if you get caught" said Aladdin from beneath the robe. Unfortunately one of guards heard him and grabbed us.

"There you are, you street rats!" cried the guard, gripping Aladdin by his blue vest and me by my tunic.

"Uh oh, we're in trouble" I said nervously. Suddenly a flash of green and brown appeared before our eyes causing the guard to give a startle yelp and drop us. The two animals jumped off the guard and onto our shoulders. On Aladdin's was his pet monkey Abu, a small little thing, but just as good a thief as I was. And on mine was Babuk, my Basilisk Lizard. He's my best friend next to Aladdin, and a faithful companion. We met in one of Agrabah's bazaars. I just happened to be walking by and his cage just so happened to unlock itself. And he's been with me ever since. He's just a little bigger than Abu and his scales have a dark green complexion. He can also run across the sand of Agrabah faster then any human you'll ever meet.

"Thanks Babuk" I said stroking his scaly little green head. "Krsssss" he hissed, nodding his head. "Come on Al, lets get outta here!" I said, ducking as a guard swung his sword. I then looked over to Aladdin and saw the look on his face. I knew what was coming next.

"No! Don't you even think about it Al!" I cried, leaping onto a barrel. Al just grinned and broke into one of his songs.

"Gotta keep  
One jump ahead of the breadline  
One swing ahead of the sword  
We steal only what we can't afford!"

He sang, leaping onto the barrel with me. "That's everything!" I said to him, kicking one of the barrels over into the guards.

"One jump ahead of the lawmen  
That's all, and that's no joke  
These guys don't appreciate we're broke!"

We climbed a nearby construction tower, with Babuk climbing up the wooden frame and Aladdin.

"Riffraff! Street rats! Scoundrels! Take that!" the guards cried throwing fruit and rocks at us. As soon as we reached the top, I ran over to the nearest roof top, with Babuk on my shoulders. I looked back and saw Aladdin still on the tower, taunting the guards.

"Just a little snack, guys?" he asked waving the loaf at them. I managed to get back to the tower and pull out Aladdin out of the way before he was impaled by dozens of thrown swords and spears. The guards began shaking the tower and me and Aladdin swayed, trying to keep our balance. "Rip them open, take it back, guys!" the guards chanted, bent on causing us to fall. Aladdin just grinned and sang,

"I can take a hint, gotta face the facts  
You're my only friend, Abu!"

He jumped off the tower but was saved by Abu at the last moment, who swung from an protruding plank and grabbed him, swinging him onto a nearby ledge.

"Hey, what about me!" I cried indignantly. I jumped off the tower and landed on the plank, and jumped again landing on the ledge my friend was on. I looked and we were in room filled with some very gorgeous ladies. They took one look at us and turned, crying a singsong voice:

"Oh it's that Aladdin's hit the bottom.  
He's become a one-man rise in crime!"

"Yo! Am I invisible or something!" I cried. Aladdin turned for the door and ran smack dab into this huge lady, who I could only assume to be the maid. She swung a broom at Aladdin who ducked it in ease crying "I'd blame parents except he hasn't got 'em!" I was busy sitting with one of the girls in a corner and flirting with her. Babuk was busy snagging some fruit on a nearby table with his tongue. Aladdin jumped for the window and sang,

"Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat!"

When he was done he jumped, and I turned to the girl and said "Tell you all about it when I get the time!" giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to blush, before I grabbed Babuk and followed Aladdin.

We saw guards coming down a nearby road and hid in a crowd that was viewing this large man showing off his muscles. Aladdin snuck behind him and began imitating him, and a guard saw him. We took off, and Aladdin was still singing!

"One jump ahead of the slowpokes  
One skip ahead of our doom  
Next time gonna use a nom de plume  
One jump ahead of the hitmen  
One hit ahead of the flock  
I think we'll take a stroll around the block"

"Will you stop singing already! It's getting annoying!" I cried leaping off the backs of several sheep. The guards were only a few feet behind us now and were gaining. "This way!" I cried grabbing Aladdin and dragging him up a set of stairs. Some nearby guards saw us and began climbing the stairs. Aladdin saw them and began his song again.

"One jump ahead of the hoofbeats  
One hop ahead of the hump  
One trick ahead of disaster  
They're quick, but we're much faster"

"Will you shut up with that song!" I yelled as we ran into a room. Aladdin grabbed a nearby rug and held it near the window as guards entered the door way.

"Here goes, better throw my hand in  
Wish me happy landin'  
All I gotta do is jump!"

"Oh no you don't!" I cried, grabbing the edge of the rug, before Aladdin jumped out the window with it. I manage to get on just as we hit open air and Babuk held onto my shoulder for dear life as we flew cut through the air. I looked back and saw that the guards had fallen out of the window and landed into piles of dung. At the last second we grabbed the corners of the rug and used it as a parachute. We slowly floated down into a dark alleyway of Agrabah and it wasn't until we landed that I breathed a sigh of relief. We got away, just barely.

"You are going to be the death of both us one of these days, Al." I said as our feet touched the ground.

* * *

That was a good chap in my opinion. Took so long though! Im gonna need to take a break after this. Hope you enjoyed it. There is more to come! 


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, I'm on my knees here. Can I please get some reviews? I don't want to be nasty like other writers and withhold the story unless I get X amount of reviews. To me that's not fair. I just wanna know what you guys think of my story and know that people are actually reading it. Can you please cut me some slack? I'm not asking for much. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Street Rats**

"You are going to be the death of both us one of these days, Al." I said as our feet touched the ground.

"Hey, I take care of myself, don't worry." Aladdin said, throwing the carpet to the side. We were now in a dark and filthy alleyway. But it was secluded, which meant the guards wouldn't find us here.

"Al, we almost got caught that time. And it didn't help that you 'flew' off a four story building. Look at Babuk here, he's terrified!" I said, stroking my friend's scaly head as he shivered from shock on my shoulder. "One of these days, your tricks are gonna get you captured, and I won't be able to help you."

Aladdin sat down and began tore the loaf into four pieces. He gave one to Abu, and tossed two my way. "At least we got away, Cassim. And now, we feast!" he said beginning to eat his piece.

I sighed and sat down as well, placing my piece on the ground beside me and giving the other piece to Babuk, who took it in his claws and began chewing voraciously. I undid the bag at my waist and looked inside to see what I risked my life for. I poured the money on the ground and began counting. I didn't take long for me to do so, and it was even less then I first thought! A mere sixteen coppers. It wasn't as much as I had hoped, but at least I got some money out of this. I slid the money back into the bag, tying it at my waist. I looked over at Babuk, he was done his bread and was looking at mine.

"Krissssska?" he asked. Like Aladdin and Abu, Babuk and I have been together so long, I can practically tell what he's trying to say. He was asking me now if I was going to finish my snack. I smiled and shook my head no. His long tongue lashed out and wrapped around the bread, bringing it back into his mouth, where he chewed it, smiling at me. I knew he needed it more then I did. Pickings had been lean these last few weeks for us. Besides, I had other things on my mind then food. I heard the breaking of a pot and looked up, seeing two children digging thru the trash looking for scraps. It looked to be a young girl and her younger brother, orphans, street rats like ourselves.

"Come here, we're not going to hurt you." Said Aladdin getting up. The two children approached us cautiously, but relaxed when Aladdin held out his bread, untouched, to them.

"Here, take it" he said, giving his piece to the girl. He looked over to Abu, motioning his head as if telling him to do the same. Abu walked over and grudgingly gave his piece to the little boy. The children smiled at him and petted his head and began to walk away.

"Hey kids!" I called out to them. As they looked over to me, I drew some coins from the bag at my waist. "Catch!" I called out to them, tossing the coins their way. The children smiled; jingling the coins I had given to them in their hands and ran away. I leaned back against the wall and smiled myself. Sure I was down ten coppers, but it was worth it. Besides, those coins would do a lot more for those kids then a piece of bread would. That's what Aladdin didn't seem to understand Sure, stolen food can keep you alive, can keep the emptiness in your stomach away for one day. But you can only steal as much as you can carry. Money, on the other hand, could get you food, clothing, anything you wanted! The idea of having honest money in your pocket and going out and getting what you needed **without **the guards chasing after you. That was a luxury I wish I could have someday. But for now, I stuck with small thieving, hoping to save up and buy an actual house or apartment instead of the ruined building we made our home in. After that, I'd go straight and turn my back on thieving, and probably get a job to.

Just as my mind was endelved in my fantasy, I was brought out of it by the loud sound of a trumpet. It was coming from a nearby street and Babuk scurried up my shoulder as Aladdin and I got up to go check it out.

It was a fairly small procession, correction, a single person, but people gathered around the edges of the street to view him. Babuk clambered onto the top of my head to see above everyone. It was a princely figure, a tall man clad in bright scarlet silks, with gold chains and baubles hanging off of him. He was riding a large white stallion, and turned his nose up in the air with superiority.

"Another suitor for the princess." Said the man next to me, viewing the prince. I smiled, it was a bit of a joke around Agrabah. Princess Jasmine, daughter of the Sultan, was visited frequently by hopeful princes and nobles, attempting to gain her hand in marriage. It had to do by some old law that she had to be married by here eighteenth birthday, which I might add is in three days. But she has so far turned down every suitor that has come her way, saying she wants to marry for _love. _Sad, isn't it? And the law doesn't say anything about what happens if she doesn't marry by then, so it will be interesting if it does come to that.

I then noticed the two children from the alleyway. The boy dashed out in front of the street, playing, and the girl ran after him, trying to bring him back into the crowd. The girl caught him, right in front of the horse, which reared and almost knocked the prince off.

"You miserable little whelps! You shall pay for that!" the prince yelled, brandishing a whip. Just at it was about to come down, Aladdin dashed out from the crowd and took the blow. The children ran back into the crowd, and I dashed out of it, running to my friend's side.

"If I was as rich as you, I'd buy some manners. Or a better looking face." I said, as Aladdin grabbed the whip and tossed it away, infuriating the prince. He rode up to us and knocked Aladdin down into the mud, I was just able to miss the blow meant for me. As I was helping Aladdin out of the mud, he called out "Look Cassim, its not every day you see a horse with two behinds." The prince turned around and shot him an angry glare.

"You are worthless street rats. You were born street rats, you will die street rats, and only your fleas will morn you." said the prince insultingly. Aladdin ran at him, but the gates shut in his face an instant before he passed thu. He pounded at the doors, saying to himself "I am not worhtless, and I don't have fleas."

I looked around, the crowd was beginning to disperse. I then noticed Babuk's absence on my head.

"Yo! Babuk, where are ya buddy?" I called out, looking for him. Sure, Babuk can take care of himself. But if something was to happen to him, do you really think I could ever forgive myself?

I then noticed Babuk crawling towards me, he was safe, but it looked like something was in his mouth.

"There you are," I said picking him up and placing him on my shoulder. "What do you have there?" I asked. His tongue shot out, wrapped around an object and dropped it into my hand. "Well will you look at that!" I said, holding it up to the light. It was a large golden coin, almost as big a Bubuk's claw. "Where'd you get this?" I asked him.

"Ssssssssskkkk" he replied, his forked tongue flickering in and out of his mouth. "Stole it from that stuck up prince huh?" I said. Babuk's head bobbed up and down, smiling pleasantly. "Nice work little buddy!" I said, placing the coin in my bag.

I walked over to Aladdin and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Al, just ignore him." I said trying to cheer him up.

He nodded and I led him away down the streets. I was getting dark as we entered a really old part of the city where we made our home. Most of the building were in ruins, and very few, if any people lived here. Our home was a large ruined building, the walls crumbling and several beams had fallen. We climbed several makeshift ladders till we reached the top floor, and I ducked under a fallen beam and entered our home. It was a single large room, with several old pillows and blankets in the corner, our beds, and old rickety table with several coins and other trinkets on it. A large hole penetrated one wall, and I had rigged up an old sheet as a large curtain. Abu and Babuk curled up onto the cushions and fell asleep. Aladdin sat down on one of the cushions and I emptied my coins onto the table, flipping the gold one once before placing it with the others.

"Street rats? Riff raff? Huh, I don't buy that!" I said plopping down next to him.

He stared glumly at the wall and asked, "If only they looked closer, would they still see us as poor boys?"

"No siree!" I said throwing my arms up into the air. "Al, there's so much more to the two of us then they'll ever understand." I said, putting a friendly arm around his shoulders in a brotherly fashion.

He got up and opened the curtain, revealing a tremendous view of Agrabah. The palace shone in the distance against the night sky. I must admit, it was a amazing sight, it was one of the main reasons we made this our home. Aladdin sat on the ledge and said "Some day Cassim, things are gonna change. We'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all."

I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed. Aladdin enjoyed this fantasy almost as much as I did mine.

"It's a nice wish Al, but one that can't be granted. A palace? Wealth?" I said waving my hand over the table. "We can only do our best, and this is it. Our fortunes might change, but not that dramatically. How about we focus on small things, like a house for now." I said laying down on the cushions and pulling a blanket over myself and Babuk.

"You'll see Cassim. It'll happen someday." Said Aladdin, but his words did not reach me; I have already drifted off into slumber. Aladdin laid down next to me, took one last glance at the palace before closing his eyes.

* * *

Ok, so honestly, how was this chapter. I need some reviews here! Please, seriously, all I want is a mere ten reviews for my story before the next chapter comes off the press. I'm still going to put it here regardless. I wouldn't hold out on people like that. I just really want some reviews. Maybe Genie can help me? 


	4. Chapter 4

(The Shadow Poet is walking through a vast desert. Eventually the searing heat gets to him and he collapses. He pulls out a brass lamp, rubs it, and the Genie pops out)

Genie: Greetings Master

Me: I wish to use one of my wishes now. I wish…

Genie: for a bottle of water? To be away from this desert? To be a prince? How about my freedom?

Me: No, I wish people would review for my story!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**The Princess**

"Ok Babuk. You know the plan, right?" I asked to my friend. He nodded, rubbing his claws together with anticipation. It was the next morning and it was a busy day in the market. Merchants were calling out their wares to passing commoners, and the streets were jammed pack with caravans and traders. Al and I decided to use this commotion and 'pick up' some breakfast, if you get my drift. I had snuck up above a tent selling pistachios, with Babuk crawling up the nearby wall and meeting me on the top.

"You ready buddy?"

"Shisssssssss" he replied, his forked tongue licking his lips.

"Kay, go for it." I said, getting into place. Babuk crawled down the tent poles and grabbed a small basket of pistachios right in front of the stall merchant.

"Hey you filthy rascal! Hands off!" yelled the merchant, grabbing for the basket. Babuk maneuvered out of his way, taunting him. I lowered myself on the other side of the tent and grabbed a much larger basket while the merchant was distracted by Babuk. I was just about to pull myself up when I noticed a particularly large purse of coins in the corner. I few moments later, Babuk dropped the basket and returned to the top, where I was counting my new loot.

"Nice work, Babuk!" I said, pushing the mound of coins away and cracking open a few pistachios. I handed them to him, saying "Breakfast is served", as he grabbed one with both claws and chewed on it happily.

I waved across the street to Aladdin, who waved back from atop another stall. He had just pulled off the same trick I had, and was eating a melon along with Abu. I threw a few of the pistachios into my mouth and resumed counting. This was a good haul, eighty-three coppers and twenty-four silver pieces, my best yet. Well, besides the gold piece that I had in my pocket.

I then looked over to Aladdin, and saw that he was very distracted by something. He was just sitting there, propped up by his arm and had this stupid grin across his face.

"Yo, Al! Woohoo! Over here! Pay attention Al!" I mouthed to him, waving my arms, trying to get his attention. No success, he was in his own sad little world.

I then glanced at over to where he was looking, my jaw dropped and my eyes bugged out. There standing walking down the street, was the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen. Smooth fair skin, almond shaped brown eyes, and the silkiest black hair you have ever seen. I could clearly understand why Aladdin was so love struck with her. If it wasn't for the few ounces of common sense in my head, I would be gawking at her too. Ok, so I was, but only for a few moments. But despite her good looks, she was dressed poorly. A simple brown robe, with the hood pulled over her head. She looked like on of us, a street rat. But even this didn't dampen her beauty; she was one fine street rat!

I then noticed those two kids from the other day. I smiled to myself. They seemed to be everywhere nowadays. The two were staring up hungrily at the fruit piled on one of the stalls. It seemed that the money I gave them yesterday didn't last that long.

" Aw, you must be hungry. Here." said the girl, taking a pear from the stand and giving it to them. They took the pear and ran off, smiling happily. The girl began to walk away, but was stopped by the stall owner.

"I trust you are going to pay for that?" he said angrily, grabbing her hand and pulling her back.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any money." She said, trying to free her hand.

" Thief!" he bellowed angrily, and slammed her hand down onto the stall and drew a sword.

"No, please, if you would let me go to the palace, I could get some from the sultan for you." she pleaded. I frowned, this was getting ugly real fast. And what was she babbling about? The palace? The sultan?

"Do you know what the penalty for thieving is, street rat?" said the merchant, holding the sword above her wrist. Everyone knew what it was. If you stole, and were caught, you lost your thieving hand if it was a minor offense. If you were a major thief, like myself, you'd most likely be sent to the dungeons for a swift execution. That is of course, if you were foolish enough to get caught.

"No please, don't!' begged the girl, trying to pull away. Just as the sword was about to come down, Aladdin appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the man's hand, stopping the blow.

"Come on Babuk" I said, scooping the coins back into the purse. He climbed onto my wrist and I leaped off the stall, running up to the scene Aladdin was making.

"Thank you so much for finding her good sir. I have been looking everywhere for her." Said Aladdin.

"What are you doing?" whispered the girl.

"Just play along" Aladdin whispered back.

"You, uh, know this girl?" asked the merchant, lowering the sword.

"Unfortunately yes," I said walking up to them, "she's our sister." "She's kinda crazy if you get my drift" I whispered in his ear.

"But, she said she knew the Sultan?" asked the merchant, curiously.

"Heh, she thinks the monkey is the Sultan," said Aladdin, shrugging his shoulders apologetically. I almost slapped myself but caught myself at the last second. Aladdin was screwing my whole plan up! Crazy sister, understandable. Crazy sister who thinks our pet monkey is the sultan, overkill. Besides, she definitely wouldn't stoop that low to get out of this jam.

"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?" said the girl, catching on. She got on her knees and lowered her head, bowing to Abu. Abu winked at Aladdin and puffed out his chest, acting regal. Babuk just sat on my shoulder and looked at me as if saying, "O yeah, we are so dead. "

"Well it looks like there was no harm done," I said, butting in and handing the merchant a few coppers. It was then I noticed an unusually _**large**_ bag of coins at the man's waist.

"Come on sister, time to see the doctor." Said Aladdin, pulling the girl's hand away from the stand. I snuck behind the merchant while he was viewing them and began to untie the strings to the bag. He would certainly notice if his entire purse went missing, so a few coins from it would suffice. He was still busy looking at the girl and Aladdin. By now I had gotten the strings undone and had slipped my hand into my bag. Dang, there were a lot of coins in here! I grabbed a fistful and silently closed the bag.

"Krssssssss" hissed Babuk, pleased with our success.

"Shhhhh, quiet buddy" I whispered, my eyes darting around cautiously. Good, no one had seen my little bit of thieving.

"Oh, hello doctor" said the girl to a nearby camel. I backed up from the merchant and looked at the coins in my hand. Bingo! Twenty-nine silver pieces. Today was definitely my lucky day. I placed the coins in my own bag and joined the other two.

"Heh, not that doctor" said Aladdin, leading her away.

"Come-on Abu," I called to the little monkey. He was still performing his sultan impression.

"Ba baba baba" he screeched. He took a step forward and fruit and coins fell out of his shirt. I smiled, so I wasn't the only one doing a bit of thieving.

"Run!" I shouted taking off as fast as my feet could take me, with Babuk clinging to the back of my neck. Aladdin ran right after me, still holding the girl by her hand and pulling her along.

"Theives!" shouted the merchant as the people around us laughed at Abu, who gathered what he could as he followed.

* * *

Sometime later, we were in the old neighbor where we made our homes and it was beginning to get dark 

"So, was this your first time in the market place?" asked Aladdin behind me to the girl as we climbed the ruins of nearby building.

"How did you know?" asked the girl as Aladdin helped her up a ledge.

"That much was kind of obvious" I called from in front of them. Babuk rolled his eyes and both Aladdin and the girl blushed.

"Krssssssss?" asked Babuk, as he crawled on top of my head and peered down at me.

"You have a bad feeling about her too, huh?" I quietly asked my friend.

I took a quick glance back at her and Aladdin, who were avidly chatting together. Something about her was out of place but I couldn't put my finger on it. It kept bothering me what she said. About the palace and the sultan? How she never went to the market? This was no ordinary girl, but if that was true, then what was she?

I ducked under the fallen beam that was at the entrance of our home, ignoring the other two. As Aladdin helped the girl through it, I went over to the table and untied the pouch at my waist, pouring its contents on the table. My eyes gleamed at the small pile of copper and silver, never had my collection been so large. I silently patted the gold coin Babuk stole yesterday. My luck seemed to improve since it came into my possession. I turned and noticed Aladdin showing the girl our home.

"This is where you live?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, just me, Babuk, and Al here." I said, leaning against the wall, crossing my arms and staring at her. "So, tell me, why were you in the market place?"

"I ran away because my father wanted me to marry someone I can't love." She said sadly. I nodded, this made sense. Aladdin turned the conversation to another direction.

"Look at this," he said, pulling back the curtain, revealing the view of the palace against the star filled night sky.

"It must be great to live in a palace" said Aladdin absent mindedly.

"Its not as great as you think" said the girl, rather to quickly. My ears perked up at this. What did she know about it.

"Servants to wait on you, all the gold you could want…" he said, still off in his dream world.

"People telling you what to do, what to say, where to go…" said the girl, staring off at the palace.

"…it just makes you feel, trapped" they finished together, blushing and looking into each others eyes. I rolled my eyes but was brought back to my senses at the sound of crashing wood. I quickly looked over to the entrance and saw several guards moving through the rubble.

"They're after me!" they said together" They then looked at each other in surprise and exclaimed "They're after you!"

"Oh crime!" I yelled, running over to the table and began filling the mound of coins into a bag. I was not going to lose my hard won money to the likes of these. It was all I had, it couldn't start over.

"Father must have sent them after me!" cried the girl.

I stopped what I was doing and stared at her. These were the palace guards. They served only the sultan. Then that would mean this girl is…

"Cassim, come on!" cried Aladdin running towards the window.

"I'll be right there!" I shouted back, continuing to fill my bag.

"Do you trust me?" asked Aladdin to the girl, placing a foot on the window.

"What?"

"I said do you trust me?" said Aladdin, taking her hand.

"Yes" she said slowly, unsure of what he was going to do.

"Then jump!" he cried, jumping out of the window, pulling her with him. Abu glanced at us before following him. Babuk had turned an unhealthy shade of grey, and was shivering, clearly scared as to what would happen to us if we didn't escape.

"Don't worry Babuk, we'll be outta here in one second." I said, tying the bag to my waist.

I turned and ran smack dab into one of the guards.

"There you are street rat!" he cried, grabbing me. Babuk jumped at him, claws outstretched, but was grabbed by another guard and thrown into a bag.

"Babuk!" I cried, as my friend scrabbled around trying to get free.

"Looks like it's all over buddy" I whispered before the guard clubbed my head and I blacked out.

* * *

Ok, This chapter took me forever. Sorry about it. At least I have one review so my efforts werent a complete waste of time. I kept my promise, I uploaded the chapter regardless of how many reviews. For those of you who do read this, can you tell other people about my story, just so it feels like people are reading it?Thanks. Chappie Five is coming up. 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey sorry that it took me so long to update. I've been really, really, REALLY busy with numerous thing. I will update as frequently as I can, just keep checking on it. Also, KEEP THEM REVIEWS COMING IN!! I NEED THEM! Enjoy the chapter….

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Cave of Wonders**

I awoke with the biggest migraine I have ever had. It was beating my head like a gong. My eyes snapped open and I stared into the inky darkness before me.

'I'm I dead?" I asked myself, for everything was black before my eyes. But they soon adjusted to the dim light and my surroundings took shape.

"Oh you gotta be kiddin' me!" I cried out!

I was in the one place I hoped I would never, ever, end up at! The palace dungeons. I looked around, nearby was Aladdin, chained to the wall, still unconscious, and next to him…

"Babuk!" I whispered, to the prone figure, attempting to move closer to him, only to be stopped by manacles clamped onto my wrists. I struggled, trying to move closer, pulling on them with all my might.

"Shisssskas" my friend hissed, turning my way. A large metal clamp was sealed around his waist, but he had a fairly long chain and bounded towards me, leaping into my arms.

"Aww, Babuk, I'm sorry. I never meant for you to end up here like me." I whispered, holding him to close to me. He was ice cold and huddled closer into my tunic for warmth. This dark dungeon was no place for him. Without warmth, light, or fresh air, Babuk wouldn't last long. Not that it mattered. We were dead men already.

"Ugh, what happened?" asked Aladdin rubbing his head, finally waking up.

I ignored him, I couldn't even stand to look at him. It was HIS fault we were here. Him and the blasted princess. Could he have really have been that stupid. It was so obvious, I was a fool for not have seeing it earlier. If I had maybe we wouldn't have ended up…

No! It wasn't my fault! What was I to do. HE brought her to our home, and because of her the guards came.

"Abu!" Aladdin cried, looking towards a high up window. Sure enough, that hairy little thief was there, waving his little hat to us down below. He scrambled down the wall and scrabbled over to Aladdin, searching through his little vest furiously.

"Its good to see your o.k., Abu" said Aladdin, holding out his cuffed wrists towards him. Abu found what he was looking for and pulled a small lock pick out of a pocket. Just as he was about into Aladdin's cuffs, Babuk's tongue shot out, snagging it from Abu's paw and into my outstretched hand.

"Thanks Babuk" I whispered to him, as I inserted the pick into the keyhole on the band around his waist. He gave a satisfied hiss as the band fell with a clang onto the stone floor, and I inserted the lockpick into my cuffs. I massaged my wrists as the cuffs fell off, and I rubbed Babuk's head affectionately while giving Aladdin dirty look. Hey, he deserved it! Looking away, I flung the lockpick into the farthest corner of the dungeon, grinning as it resounded with a soft clink.

"What was that for?" asked Aladdin incredously as Abu ran over to retrieve the lockpick.

"If anyone deserves to rot in this dungeon, its you!" I spat back at him. "This is your fault we're in here! I had everything going for me and Babuk, and then YOU fall over for some big goo goo eyes!" I yelled at him, letting my frustration vent.

"How was I suppose to know she was a princess!" yelled Aladdin back as Abu, freed him.

"It was so obvious! But you were too busy staring at a pretty face to notice!" I shouted, getting into his face. "And now look at us! We're on the chopping block now! Tomorrow morning we're both dead! I've lost everything! Everything I have risked my neck for is gone!"

It was true, when the guards captured me, they must've taken my bag of loot. All the coppers, and silver pieces I had ever stolen were gone. Even the…

"Wait!" I thought, patting my pocket. They hadn't taken my gold piece! But then reality hit me like a brick. What did it matter? I was going to be dead in the morning and no amount of money could do anything for me.

"I'm guessing that as soon as you two jumped, the guards caught you on your way down and she revealed herself to save her and your skin?" I asked sarcastically, as Babuk hissed on my shoulder at him. Good, at least my best friend was like minded with me.

He nodded sullenly, obviously hurt by my outbreak and by her betrayal.

"I was a fool to trust her" he said sadly, putting his face in his hands and leaning back.

"YES, YOU WERE! IT'S HOPELESS! WE ARE AS GOOD AS DEAD! MUST I KEEP TELLING YOU THAT!" I yelled, pouring all my anger, hate and frustration at him.

"Ahh, you're a fool as well if you give up hope" said a crackly old voice from the shadows.

"And who the heck are you!" I barked, turning towards the source. A extremely old man emerged from the darkness, hobbled over and wearing paper-thin rags. He leaned on old rickety crutch, and what few gray hairs that were left on his head were thinned out.

"A fellow prisoner like yourselves, but together we can be something more…" said the old man hobbling over to us. He turned away for a moment and I could here mutterings. I couldn't catch all of it but it sounded like someone was saying, "Jafar, will yah hurry up! I'm dying in here!" Yup, this guy was definitely out of his mind. But I'd decided I'd humor him. I had nothing better to do.

"There is a cave, boys… a Cave of Wonders… filled with treasures beyond your wildest dreams." Said the old man, showing his hand, which was filled rubies. "A treasure so great that.. HEY!" said the man, startled, for at that moment, Babuk's tongue shot out and snagged several rubies out of the man's hand. As he dropped them in mine, I held one up to the light. This was definitely of good quality.

"Kay, tell yah what" I said, pocketing the gems, "I'll take this as the down payment for whatever you want me to do."

Aladdin looked at Abu, then eyed the man suspiciously.

"So why would you want to share all this wonderful treasure with us" he asked, avoiding my eyes.

The man wheezed and responded, "I need a set of young legs and a couple of strong backs to go in after it."

"Yes that's great, but there is one slight problem with all of this " I said, butting into the conversation. "The treasure is out there, and we're in here."

"Ah, but out is in, and in is out. Not everything is as it seems." Said the man as he limped over to the wall of the chamber and moved a section of it, revealing the desert outside.

"Well, lets get started then.' I said climbing out of the hole, with Babuk on my shoulder.

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight…" I asked as we approached the mouth of the Cave Of Wonders, "You want us, to go in there, and get a lamp?" 

"Yes, after that, the rest of the treasure is yours" said the man, nodding his head.

"Seems easy" I said approaching the tiger mouth as Aladdin followed behind.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?" bellowed the tiger head, as it's mouthy moved. Okay. This was definitely not what I expected from this.

"It is I… Aladdin" my friend answered heisitantly.

"And it is I, Cassim!" I shouted to the head, pushing my friend out of the way.

Blinding light suddenly came from the mouth of the cave as the tiger head bellowed once again. "PROCEED. TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP!"

The old man called out to us as we entered.

"First fetch the lamp. And then you shall have your reward!"

"Yah, yah!" I yelled back to him as I spoke to Aladdin.

"Hey Al, tell you what. You can repay me for earlier by giving me your share of the loot"

* * *

"Will you look at this!" Aladdin yelled as we viewed a huge chamber filled floor to ceiling with all kinds of treasures and jewels. I surveyed the scene in wonder, gawking at the massive piles of wealth before me. Babuk sat on my head, gazing it all.

"A handful of this stuff would make me richer then the sultan." Said Aladdin as I was still off gazing at the treasure, correction, **my** treasure.

Abu suddenly raced to a large chest but stopped just as Aladdin shouted a warning, "Abu! Don't touch anything. We gotta find that lamp."

"I still don't get what's so important about lamp. With all this here, why would he want it?" I asked as I walked by a suit of gleaming golden armor. "Oh, and forget what I said earlier, you can keep your share."

"So you forgive me?"

'No, I just said that you can keep your share. If we're splitting this loot two ways, how am I going to spend it all? I could buy ten palaces with this stuff and still have tons left over."

He avoided my gaze and went on, looking for the entrance to the next passage. Suddenly I felt a missing weight. I searched my pockets hurriedly. NO! It was gone! My gold piece! Sure there were tons here, but that was the first gold piece I ever stole, and it meant something special to me. But wait, I distinctly remembered having it with me when we entered the cave.

Just then, Babuk leaped off my head and tackled a figure behind me, pinning it to the ground. I swiftly turned around, and was about to tackle it as well, but was frozen were I stood in amazement.

_It was a magic carpet._

And in its hand, er… **tassle**, was my gold piece.

"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!" I shouted, wresting my coin from its grasp. Once it was saftely in my pocket, I heaved myself off of it and said,

"Shoo, go away. We don't need you!"

It slowly 'walked' away sadly, with its 'head' drooped low. Jeez, its hard describing a rug in human terms. Still, I did feel sorry for the little guy. WAIT! What was I thinking? Its just a rug, you walk on it and sweep dirt under it. It doesn't have feelings. Still…

"Hey, wait a minute!" I called after him. "Don't go. Look, I'm sorry about what I said." It turned back at us and seemed to feel a little better.

"Maybe you can help us." I continued, "You see, we're trying to find this lamp."

The carpet pointed excitedly and zipped off, with us running behind it trying to keep up.

"I think he knows where it is." Said Aladdin excitedly, running beside me.

"No, you think?" I said sarcastically.

The carpet led us into another large carvern. At one end of it was huge stone staircase surrounded by a pool of water. Stepping stones led across the pool, and high atop the staircase in a beam of light was the lamp.

"Well come-on, lets get this over with" I said bounding up the stone steps.

Aladdin followed behind me, muttering something under his breath. Unfortunately I lost my balance halfway up and landed into the pool of water with a splash. Aladdin didn't even bother to help me! At the top of the staircase, Aladdin reached for the dented, dust covered lamp.

"This is it? This is what we're come all the way down here to-" said Aladdin holding the lamp, turning towards Abu. "Abu! NO!" he yelled.

As I hauled myself out of the pool onto a stepping stone, I stole a glance at the shore, where I saw the carpet and Babuk, struggling furiously at Abu, who was just about to snatch a beautiful red jewel from a gold monkey idol.

"Abu! Stop! Babuk, Carpet, hold him tight!" I yelled trying to jump to the next stone.

It was too late.

As Abu's paws lifted the jewel from its stand, the cave began to crumble and the ground began to quiver as the voice of the tiger head boomed above us.

"INFIDELS! YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE FORBIDDEN TREASURES! NOW YOU SHALL NEVER AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!"

Abu tried to put the jewel back into the monkey idol's palm, but the idol melted away and the ground shook violently. I watched in horror as the water surrounding us slowly turned into boiling hot lava.

"YOW!!! HOT!! HOT!!!" I screamed in agony. A little bit of lava had brushed the sole of my shoes and had burned through, scorching my feet.

As I was busy extinguishing myself, I watched as the stone staircase magically transformed into a chute sending, Aladdin hurtling towards the pool of lava. Just in the nick of time, the carpet carrying Abu and Babuk rushed in to rescue him, just before he hit the magma.

It was then I heard a strange pooping sound, I looked towards the side and saw that the stepping stones were quickly being swallowed up.

"Uh guys?" I called out to them, as a stone a few feet away sunk, "I really don't feel like dying a fiery death here so… SAVE ME!!!"

"Grab on!" shouted Aladdin pulling up next to me.

I heaved myself onto the carpet, as the stone I was standing on sunk, and a wave of lava formed behind us.

"Whoa! Carpet, let's move!" I shouted, clutching the edges of the carpet, my heart beating fast. Abu chatted angrily behind me.

"What do you mean 'No backseat driving'?" I asked angrily and pointing an accusing finger at him, "IF you haven't noticed, we're in this mess because of you!"

We entered the treasure room and I watched in horror as one by one, the mounds of treasure erupted into mountains of fire, scorching our faces.

NO!!!! All I had hoped for was burning before my eyes! The carpet swerved left and right, avoiding the torrents of fire.

"Woah! Hard left carpet! Hard left!" I shouted above the noise of the roaring flames. Sure enough, the carpet swerved left and soared up a wall vertically, as we hung onto it for dear life.

Suddenly the carpet was pinned by a falling rock, forcing us to be thrown forward. I hit the rock wall with a thud, and clung painfully onto a precipice, with Babuk grasping my ankle. I looked above and saw that we were at the entrance again, and the old man peered down at us. Aladdin was higher up and closer to the man, hanging on by his fingertips.

"Help us!" I called up to the man as explosions rocked the ground below.

"Throw me the lamp!" said the man as he loomed above Aladdin

The wind swirled violently as Aladdin struggled to pull himself out of the cave. "I can't hold on! Give me your hand!"

"Hey! What about me?" I asked from below, my voice tinged with fear.

"First give me the lamp" responded the old man, leaning forward.

Aladdin fumbled for the lamp and held it out to the old man, who quickly grabbed it away. His eyes gleamed as he clutched the lamp with both hands.

"YES! At last!" he cried maniacally. He turned to see Abu helping Aladdin out of the cave while I was still hanging on beow. As the man stashed the lamp in his robes, Aladdin looked suspiciously at him.

"What are you waiting for!" I cried up from below.

"I'm giving you your reward- your eternal reward." Said the man drawing a cruel looking dagger. Just then, Abu scrambled onto the man, who viscously hurled the monkey back at us. Abu hit Aladdin, who lost his grip and hit me, and together we fell into the abyss. As we hurtled down the steep drop, Carpet zipped towards us and broke our fall. But the combined weight was to much for it and we tumbled down to the bottom, where I hit my head on a rock and blacked out.

* * *

Outside the cave, Jafar watched as the tiger head disappear back into the sand. The entrance to the Cave of Wonders was sealed forever. 

At last, all was quiet and still. Jafar victoriously reached into his robes for the lamp as he pulled off his disguise/

"It's mine! It's all mine! With the power of this lamp, I will control the kingdom!"

A horrified look came over Jafar as he tore open his robe.

"Where it is? No! … No!" Jafar looked around desperately as he realized the lamp had somehow disappeared. He fell to his knees and raised his arms helplessly to the sky.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!"

* * *

Hey, hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be up soon. The only problem is how to capture Genie's personality. If only Robin Williams was here to help me. This will be tricky, BUT I WILL SUCEED!! Somehow… 


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